Perhaps not literal danger, rather danger in the form of compromised portions of the track – spots that could potentially lift during Saturday night's Coke Zero 400 and create a repeat of the disaster that befell NASCAR's most historic track during its most important race.

The engineers found a spot on the pavement, about three yards before the concrete patch that covers the infamous Daytona 500 pothole. No part of the surface was missing. As a precautionary measure, under cover of darkness, a construction crew repaired the one-foot by four-and-a-half foot spot on the track between Turns 1 and 2.

"That area has our full attention because of the dips that there are," DIS President Robin Braig said. "… Whenever there is a caution whether it's for an incident or there is a delay because of weather, we'll be out there checking it and double-checking it."

There's a heightened sense of urgency when it comes to Daytona's track surface this week. It's the last of 32 years of racing on the same pavement. The sting of 13 million Daytona 500 viewers watching a construction crew repair a hole in February still lingers. Drivers and officials know the racing might deteriorate for a few years immediately after, and it certainly won't be as much fun for drivers.

But ultimately repavement was necessary, and the last race on the surface could be a classic. So many before it were.

"I think you go to the race track to win any week, but when they're fixing on making a chance you want to be the winner of either the last or the first," Kyle Busch said. "It seems like it shines a bit better."

During the past 32 years, the pavement at DIS developed grooves and bumps that added character. That character made the track a driver favorite. Though Daytona and Talladega look similar, because of the track's age and difference in banking it's one that requires more handling, while still providing fast speeds, great racing and the potential for big wrecks.

Take the 2007 Pepsi 400 when Jamie McMurray and Kyle Busch battled for more than 30 laps, with McMurray besting Busch by .005 seconds. It was one of the closest finishes in NASCAR history.

Last season's race provided a stunning finish, as well. Tony Stewart held his line as Kyle Busch tried to duck in front of him. The move sent Busch crashing across Stewart and into several drivers behind him, while Stewart won the race.

Drivers expect that kind of racing to disappear for at least a few years.

"I think the driver will be less important than it is right now just for the fact that handling is totally out the window," NASCAR points leader Kevin Harvick said. "There will be no handling aspect of it. It will be just like Talladega and getting your car as fast as you can make it is going to make packs just like Talladega with half the width of the race track than what you are used to there."

Harvick reluctantly admitted the time for repaving had come.

"I don't think anybody would repave it unless you had to," Harvick said.

DIS insisted from the day it announced repaving that it would be fine for the Coke Zero 400.

It will still cross drivers' minds.

"We're all concerned a little bit about it," Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. "We'll just see how it goes."